When I was on vacation I found something I thought I had lost years ago. A case of my old NES games.

I remember giving these to my cousin a long time ago. But while looking through my father’s closet I found them out of nowhere. It was a complete shock because i had no idea these games were still around. They seem to be in good shape despite moving from one house to another under somewhat chaotic ciscumstances. It really was like finding a hidden treasure I didn’t know I was looking for. Here are a few in the case.

Before we had games like Time Crisis and House Of The Dead and Area 51, we had Hogan’s Alley. Sadly I can’t play this on an LCD. But i have a lot of fond memories of this game. I actually liked the game where you had to keep the can in the air a lot more than the main game.

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You may as well call this “The 1980s: The Video Game”.

I remember my mother being addicted to this game for a while. I would come home from school and hear the oh so familiar music. Sadly unlike today, I didn’t get to hear a version with lyrics.

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A true video game classic. And luckily it is one of the few games where there is no possible way a shit movie could be made from it. The only way that would happen is in the world of Penny Arcade.

Yup, that’s funny. Yup no way no one ever makes a REAL Tetris movie...

Another unique feature of StarTropics was a feelie that came packaged with the original cartridge. Included with the game was a letter on parchment paper, written by Mike’s uncle, Dr. Jones, requesting that Mike visit him at his laboratory on C-Island, thus setting up the initial plot of the game. However, the letter also served a second, more interactive purpose. In the course of events, Mike receives an enigmatic message from his uncle that refers to the original letter:

Even for a player who owned an original copy of the game, and thus was more likely to have the actual letter, it was unusual for a video game to refer to a real-world, physical object that would otherwise just be a novelty. Confused, many players believed that Dr. Jones was referring to an item or object acquired from within the game itself, to say nothing of the potential damage that could result if the paper letter were to be submerged in water as instructed. Nevertheless, if a player was able to perform the task correctly, a secret message from Dr. Jones was revealed: the digits 7-4-7 would appear, serving as a passcode for the player to advance the plot of the game.[1]

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Keep in mind this was before we had the entire collective worlds knowledge at our fingertips. So if you got the game used, or the box didn’t have the letter or you borrowed or rented it, you were fucked. This is the kind of thing you would see on The Amazing Race.

It’s chess. But it holds a special place in my heart because it and Tetris were the only games I could ever get my father to play. When we didn’t want to pull out our chess board with the glass pieces, we played this. I don’t think I ever beat him.

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And finally,

Two of the classics in the history of the genre. Even if Mario really is a animal torturing jackass.

Well that’s all I have. What kind of video game treasures do you guys have?